Casey Martin casts his gaze toward the Olympic Club

Casey Martin, shown here during a tournament at Stanford in March, passed his first test on the road to next month's U.S. Open.

Casey Martin knows this is unrealistic. He’s a golf coach now, not a golfer. He plays maybe once every two weeks. That’s not exactly the recipe for making it to the U.S. Open.

And here he stands — 18 holes down, 36 to go.

Martin, the former Stanford golfer and current Oregon coach, shot 2-under-par 70 in local qualifying Monday in Vancouver, Wash. That was good enough to seize one of six available spots — in a field of 100 — and advance to sectional qualifying.

The sectional, on June 4 at Emerald Valley GC in Creswell, Ore., presents another challenge altogether — 36 holes in one day, against a stronger field, to earn a trip to the Olympic Club in San Francisco. That’s the only reason Martin even bothered to enter U.S. Open qualifying this year — because the Open will be held at Olympic for the first time since 1998, when Martin tied for 23rd.

Fourteen years later, he still nurses a painful circulatory disorder in his right leg, known as Klippel-Trenaunay-Webber Syndrome. He still walks with a pronounced limp and still uses a golf cart in competition, the result of his long legal fight with the PGA Tour.

And Martin, who turns 40 on June 2, still dreams of a return to the Olympic Club — no matter how unrealistic the quest.

“I have no expectations at all,” he said during an interview earlier this spring. “I’m trying this year because it’s Olympic. I wouldn’t have done it anywhere else – it would be a fun story (if he made it), but don’t hold your breath. I’m so competitively out of the mix, I literally have no expectations. Maybe I’ll play well, maybe I’ll embarrass myself. I don’t know.

“It’s going to have to be an act of God. I’m doing it to see if you can catch lightning in a bottle.”

Among other players to advance in U.S. Open local qualifying so far are Sam Saunders, grandson of Arnold Palmer; Jeff Brehaut, the Los Altos resident and longtime tour pro; University of Illinois coach Mike Small; and Olin Browne Jr., son of Champions Tour golfer Olin Browne.

Local qualifying continues through May 17, with sectionals running from May 21 through June 4 (including one at Lake Merced GC on June 4). The Open is set for June 14-17.